Cardio make you fat???
Replies
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LOL!!!! For me: it was the Doritos, whole Tombstone pizzas, and chocolate!0
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This is true because I read it on the internet.
LOVE IT!0 -
I'm not suggesting that cardio makes you fat, by the way, just that if truly being "fit", rather than "skinny" is your goal, doing only cardio and no strength training is NOT the way to go. To the OP, I think that may have been the point your trainer was trying to make. Take a look at these photos and decide which body you want to strive for yourself:
Stick woman:
Fit woman:
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Oh, one more thing to the OP: feel free to Google "skinny fat". there will be more than sufficient information out there to convince you that cardio alone is NOT the way to go.0
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Stick woman:
So you use the scrawniest runner you can find. Here is another example of a world class female runner.
I was thinking about this today after I finished my run. I think that there are three categories of contributors here.
Vanity Group - Concerned about how they look
Fitness Group - Concerned about how the feel and their health
Performance Group - Competitors
All three have very different ideas about what they want their body composition to be, based on what their goal is. There is no perfect shape, size or form. Whatever produces the result you are looking for is what is right for you.0 -
Two word review: Total. Crap. :-)
Actually... it's not.
Anyone interested in more than two words... Rachel Cosgrove wrote a great article called "The final nail in the cardio coffin"...
Google it!
It's based on her experience of Ironman Triathlon training and doing literally hours and hours of steady state cardio at the expense of a lot of strength training.
I did the same when I trained for an Ironman... hours and hours of cycling & running... all steady state cardio... getting the miles in... and I got wobbly around the middle. No -- no overcompensating with food either.
Read the article before you shout it's all nonsense.0 -
Stick woman:
Fit woman:
Isla Paulson runs a 2:31:49 Marathon!!!!!!!!!!!
I doubt very much the lady below does.0 -
I'm shocked this thread is still alive. I mean, the initial questioned as been answered. None of us believes cardio makes you fat. And we've all stated that the article posted in the first response seems like a bunch of hooey. But this thread has been hijacked by the "does cardio inhibit muscle" question.
Rachel Cosgrove is the author of The Female Body, a big time contributer to Womens Heatlh magazine, the inventor of the Spartacus workout that people started doing a couple years ago, gym owner, licensed trainer, and physique competitor. Here's what she wrote about how her body reacted to the intense cardio she performed to train for a triathlon:
http://members.rachelcosgrove.com/public/The_Final_Nail_in_the_Cardio_Coffin.cfm
Alwyn Cosgrove married to Rachel and co-own and runs the gym the own, has a degree in sports performance, is also a licensed PT and strength coach, and is the author of the New Rules for Lifting books. Here's one of his many posts on cardio.
http://alwyncosgrove.com/2010/05/the-new-science-of-fat-loss/
They, along with me and any strength or bodybuilding coach you can find will all agree that cardio works to the detriment of muscular gains. That's the only topic I was addressing in my original post before I started getting called all sorts of meathead. A poster said that lots of cardio doesn't inhibit strength or growth, and that's just wrong information. I replied in a snarky way that I guess didn't get across my meaning, so the blowback on me is my own fault.
To everyone saying "to each their own goals", OF COURSE! No one is disagreeing on that. Certainly not I! Heck, I'm doing a ton of cardio myself for the month of July to get ready for an upcoming Tough Mudder event. Do all the cardio you want. Do all the lifting you want. For the goals of most people, especially on a non-meathead site like MFP, doing cardio will not stop them from making the modest strength/size/toning(!) goals that they desire. Just don't say that cardio does not affect strength training, because in 20 years of lifting/running/biking/hiking, that has not been true of me, anyone I know, or any coach actually working in the field.
Sorry I missed you had already posted that. :flowerforyou:0 -
So based on what I learned, cardio will not make you fat. It will also prevent you from gaining muscle unless you eat back those calories and then more for the muscle growth.
That makes sense to me. In your experience, do you feel like you lost muscle/strength in your upper body while doing all of that endurance training, or did you just not gain?
There's a difference between "muscle strength" and "muscle mass". You can significantly increase muscle strength without large increases in mass. So someone who is doing a lot of cardio training -- for a specific purpose-- may find the ability to increase mass is compromised --which may or may not be relevant for them-- but should be able to see steady increases in strength.
Right. I think we're on the same page here. Some people seem to think that if you do mostly cardio, your body will eat the muscles you aren't using. That's very different from not being able to bulk up, which is also (as you say) different from maybe losing some mass without losing any strength. If you're totally sedentary except for while you're running, maybe you'll have some trouble. Most of us use our muscles all the time (picking things up, moving them, etc.) and run no real risk of withering away in our upper bodies because of our excessive cardio. That said, I do body weight exercises because I want to get stronger and it's working, even at a caloric deficit with plenty of cardio.0 -
These threads always end up in the same place with a picture of a competative runner next to a fashion model.
If you are training to compete at your best then that calls for one type of training.
If you are training for looks then that calls for a different type of training or just save the effort and get some liposuction and implants.0 -
I didn't realize you looked down your nose at people that train to look good. It may be beneath you, but yeah, I do hope to look good. I'm gonna pass on your suggestion of lipo and implants though. I thoroughly enjoy working to get mine and won't be taking any shortcuts.
No one is denying that different goals require different training. Just the opposite. If you want to be a runner, then go run. But if you want to look like a fitness model, then train like a fitness model. We're just trying to help people understand that a ton of cardio does indeed make it difficult to build muscle and strength. And cardio isn't the best way for people that are going for a certain type of muscular/fit/toned look to get there.0 -
I didn't realize you looked down your nose at people that train to look good. It may be beneath you, but yeah, I do hope to look good. I'm gonna pass on your suggestion of lipo and implants though. I thoroughly enjoy working to get mine and won't be taking any shortcuts.
Of course most of us want to be attractive.
I think it's more a case of having some respect for a competitive athlete like Isla Paulson, who runs a 2:31:49 Marathon, not be be slated as anorexic or ugly next to some barbie girl. She doesn't deserve that!0 -
thats a stupid thing for them to have said. running wont make you fat, im a personal trainer, and im a serious runner. im far from fat.
maybe the trainer thinks your going to make yourself realllly hungry and then go eat a lot of 'trashy bad' foods.....
but thats seriously a crazy thing for them to have said.0 -
Cardio burns calories. There is no way burning calories can make you fat. The opposite is more likely to happen.
Seriously, WTF are these trainers on? I have had trainers tell me that drinking 1 beer every night of the week is dietary disaster. Eating six times a day is golden, but five times a day will ruin you. Stay within your target heart rate, because if your heart beats 1 second out of time, your waist will explode.
Can we please get rid of all this diet magic BS. Eat less than you expend. That means over BMR and below TDEE. It's not magic, people. It's fact. WHY U NO STUDY LOGIC.0 -
I've never heard of that one. I have lost most of my weight running. That is how I started my training, but I also include circuit training now with my runs.0
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Have any of you actually read the articles that have been linked? :huh:0
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I have been training for various things and taking part in a wide range of sports for the last 20 years or so.
Normally I mix it up and it's something like 20% endurance cardio, 20% fitness cardio, 40% strength and 20% flexibility.
Then I trained for an Ironman triathlon, where due to the vast distances involved the training was at least 80% steady state cardio, and guess what -- you get flabby, regardless of the hours you put it!!
No HIIT, no strength training, ... no muscle tone!0 -
Yes, it's best to balance your cardio with resistance, or you will run into issues in terms of results.A trainer at the gym told me that doing lots of cardio without any weights can make you put weight on around the middle. Something to do with endorphins that your body releases when doing cardio and stress on the body....
is this true?? I am all about cardio (running, zumba, cross trainer, dvds) but now I am wondering if I am going about it all wrong?
This applies to those who are doing low intensity for hours to offset bad eating or whatever.
Your body responds by keeping fat and burning muscle.
Balance is key, and though cardio is great, like anything positive, it becomes a negative if over-done.
Maybe that's what your trainer meant - who knows....0 -
^^^^^^^^I have been training for various things and taking part in a wide range of sports for the last 20 years or so.
Normally I mix it up and it's something like 20% endurance cardio, 20% fitness cardio, 40% strength and 20% flexibility.
Then I trained for an Ironman triathlon, where due to the vast distances involved the training was at least 80% steady state cardio, and guess what -- you get flabby, regardless of the hours you put it!!
No HIIT, no strength training, ... no muscle tone!
THIS0 -
I'm not suggesting that cardio makes you fat, by the way, just that if truly being "fit", rather than "skinny" is your goal, doing only cardio and no strength training is NOT the way to go. To the OP, I think that may have been the point your trainer was trying to make. Take a look at these photos and decide which body you want to strive for yourself:
Stick woman:
Fit woman:
Depends on my goals. If I wanted a realistic chance of competing in long-distance running at an elite level, the first body accomplishes the goal more effectively. If I wanted a body that looks fantastic and is attuned to all-around function, I'd tend toward the second look.
I'm a bicyclist (commute about 30 miles in hilly terrain daily) but I still lift heavy and try to strengthen my core and do upper-body workouts. Why? Because I also use my body for other things, cycling is not my profession, and I will never compete at an elite level in cycling. I'm OK with taking an extra 30-40 seconds climbing that 1/4 mile 3% grade on my way to work. I'm not racing anyone.
But if cycling was my profession or I wanted to race at any sort of a serious level, that would be incompatible with having a lot of extra weight.
In fitness, one size does not fit all.0 -
Two word review: Total. Crap. :-)
I do not typically see very overweight runners. I do see many overweight guys at my gym who are really strong, although you can't see their muscle (although they obviously have lots of it) because of their excess body fat.
There's an expression which I think is really true "Six pack abs aren't made in the gym, they're made in the kitchen." In other words, if you want to control your weight and body fat so people can see your muscle definition, you need to do that through diet.
While cardio without weights won't make you fat, adding some weight lifting to your routine is a really great idea. It's too bad your trainer doesn't have a more balanced approach!
Deflict diet + cardio + weight training = fat loss and no muscle loss
^^^^This x2.0 -
Bump for later!!!0
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LOL..... sorry, that is the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a long time. Wow. Is the trainer hurting for business? "Those machines will make you fat, but I will make you skinny!"0
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Cardio burns calories. There is no way burning calories can make you fat. The opposite is more likely to happen.
Seriously, WTF are these trainers on? I have had trainers tell me that drinking 1 beer every night of the week is dietary disaster. Eating six times a day is golden, but five times a day will ruin you. Stay within your target heart rate, because if your heart beats 1 second out of time, your waist will explode.
Can we please get rid of all this diet magic BS. Eat less than you expend. That means over BMR and below TDEE. It's not magic, people. It's fact. WHY U NO STUDY LOGIC.
^ This.0 -
I smell some broscience
Edit: I also know women who ONLY do cardio and they do NOT look like that stick photo posted above.
Too much broscience and stereotyping here, too little reality.0 -
Only if you eat McDonald's double quarter pounder meals 6 times a day and then run. My point: if you don't create a calorie deficit through diet then you're not going to see results.0
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Sorry, but you always lose some muscle any time you reduce weight .Two word review: Total. Crap. :-)
I do not typically see very overweight runners. I do see many overweight guys at my gym who are really strong, although you can't see their muscle (although they obviously have lots of it) because of their excess body fat.
There's an expression which I think is really true "Six pack abs aren't made in the gym, they're made in the kitchen." In other words, if you want to control your weight and body fat so people can see your muscle definition, you need to do that through diet.
While cardio without weights won't make you fat, adding some weight lifting to your routine is a really great idea. It's too bad your trainer doesn't have a more balanced approach!
Deflict diet + cardio + weight training = fat loss and no muscle loss
^^^^This x2.
I hate this, but ever pound lost is part fat and part muscle unless the subject is juicing roids.
It's part of the reason I am disconnected about further weight loss.
I feel I am losing strength.0 -
Save to read later.....lots to decipher!0
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Performance athletes may not win the beauty contest, but they always win the race.I'm not suggesting that cardio makes you fat, by the way, just that if truly being "fit", rather than "skinny" is your goal, doing only cardio and no strength training is NOT the way to go. To the OP, I think that may have been the point your trainer was trying to make. Take a look at these photos and decide which body you want to strive for yourself:
Stick woman:
Fit woman:
Depends on my goals. If I wanted a realistic chance of competing in long-distance running at an elite level, the first body accomplishes the goal more effectively. If I wanted a body that looks fantastic and is attuned to all-around function, I'd tend toward the second look.
I'm a bicyclist (commute about 30 miles in hilly terrain daily) but I still lift heavy and try to strengthen my core and do upper-body workouts. Why? Because I also use my body for other things, cycling is not my profession, and I will never compete at an elite level in cycling. I'm OK with taking an extra 30-40 seconds climbing that 1/4 mile 3% grade on my way to work. I'm not racing anyone.
But if cycling was my profession or I wanted to race at any sort of a serious level, that would be incompatible with having a lot of extra weight.
In fitness, one size does not fit all.
Personally, my goals are more oriented toward performance than making me pretty like Tom Cruise.
And I will never understand those riod guys who train and train just to parade themselves on a stage flexing.
That I will never get.
Whatever, to each his own.
Health and fitness is about living long, looking good and feeling great.
That's what we all want no matter our personal goals.0 -
I think that only cardio makes you fat. I think that if you don't combine it with weight training you will have a higher percentage of fat. I was only 10 pounds away from my goal and basically only did cardio but my fat % was high. The PT at my gym couldn't tell me why at the time, now I know from here. I love cardio and I honestly don't think it will hurt by doing what you like to do but to get the right balance add strength.0
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